Our Stampington magazines are always a treasure trove of beautiful artful living ideas, but this time of year, we search for holiday projects to inspire your season of merriness. Whether you’re a doll artist, card maker, or party aficionado, these magazines have ideas for making your holidays merry and bright with tons of artistic flair! […]

Our Stampington magazines are always a treasure trove of beautiful artful living ideas, but this time of year, we search for holiday projects to inspire your season of merriness. Whether you’re a doll artist, card maker, or party aficionado, these magazines have ideas for making your holidays merry and bright with tons of artistic flair!

To get ready for the busiest season of the year, Christen Hammons and the Stampington & Company staff got together for some gift wrapping and holiday cheer.

See how they transformed the traditional Christmas color scheme with pops of magenta inside Mingle.

Influenced by the Past by Scott Smith

“I see this fellow as being the old spirit of the holiday, spreading goodwill and cheer to all.” — Scott Smith

Discover how Scott Smith used antique paisley textiles to create a variation of the jolly old elf inside Art Doll Quarterly.

Wooded Picnic by Melanie Beilner

Before leaving their lifelong home in the Pacific Northwest, these newlyweds headed off to the woods for a picnic in nature. Melanie Beilner used natural elements and a rustic wood crate to pack a quiet outing for this couple.

Britt Fluth celebrated the rustic woods, warm hearts, and community of Minnesota with this dinner party. She captured the joys of the winter season with wood-burning fireplaces, lumberjack flannels, fancy furs, and the tradition of gathering around the warm table for a meal.

Using odds and ends from costume jewelry, Melinda Barnett created these ornaments for more than just the Christmas tree. The repurposed chandelier pendants catch light well, so these make lovely sun catchers, door hangings, or anything else you can imagine.

Using soft mauve and pink inks and paints, and layering lacy fabrics and doilies, gives each card a feminine feel, like a glittering vintage faux Christmas tree. For a handmade, mixed-media look, simply tear a page form a watercolor paper journal as Lynne Moncrieff did.

To keep the tradition alive and honor her mother, Renee Stien made these ornaments by hand for each of her family members. These mixed-media pieces carry on the tradition and bring artwork to the Christmas tree.

Start these holiday-themed mittens with one large piece of Kraft paper. Apply paint in large, sweeping motions and add collaged pieces or bits of ephemera. Then, these mittens can be cut out, sewn together, and used as gift toppers for the holiday season.

Embrace the mantra “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” with these upcycled shopping bags. Frances Peets created ornaments, tree toppers, gift bags, and more with just a dab of metallic paint and plenty of patience to disassemble bags from her holiday shopping trips.

Create this mixed-media card with scraps of fabric, decorative tape, lace, and muslin. Lynne Moncrieff used Dina Wakley’s Scribbly Bird stamp set to create this grungy card that is full of Christmas magic.

Have you ever dreamed of sharing your artwork with the world? If your New Year’s resolution was to finally get your artwork seen by the public, then what better avenue to achieve your goal than getting published in one of our publications?! It’s not easy to become a published artist. It takes hard work, commitment, […]

Have you ever dreamed of sharing your artwork with the world? If your New Year’s resolution was to finally get your artwork seen by the public, then what better avenue to achieve your goal than getting published in one of our publications?! It’s not easy to become a published artist. It takes hard work, commitment, and at times, a thick skin. But in the end, it’s all worth it because there’s nothing like the feeling you get from seeing your work featured, front-and-center, in a magazine.

Being published in one of our magazines is a great way for up-and-coming artists to get recognition for their artwork, blogs, or current product lines. It’s also a wonderful way to inspire creativity amongst an audience of your peers.

Juxtapose
You know the saying, opposites attract? We know it very well at Altered Couture and have seen some beautiful upcycled pieces that showcase juxtaposition. We love where lace meets denim, when girly meets masculine, and everything in-between. For this challenge, use the art of juxtaposition to your advantage. Take two or more dissimilar fabrics, styles, colors, textures, etc., and combine them to look like they were meant for each other.

Deadline: March 15, 2015.

~Artwork by Jana Holland

Superheroes to the Rescue!
From Superman to Wonder Woman, Buffy to Lora Croft, Spider-Man to Aquaman, we want to see your superhero art dolls! Your superhero doesn’t have to come from the pages of a comic book or out of Hollywood, though; maybe your superhero is your mom, or a brave firefighter from Ground Zero– there are many ways to interpret your favorite hero or heroine. Thanks to artist Trish Draper for suggesting this challenge theme! Results will be published in our Autumn 2015 issue.

Deadline: March 15, 2015.

~Artwork by Kylie Dexter

Let Artful Blogging be your guide as you discover a world filled with visual delights from today’s most inspirational artists, writers, and photographers. In their own words, read how blogging fits into the creative lives of artists and creative souls like yourself. Filled with full-color photography, illustration, mixed-media and assemblage, fabric and vintage artwork — whether or not you have a blog of your own, you will find no richer landscape to spark your own creative fires.

~Photograph by Jillian Lukiwski

Artful Blogging is a quarterly publication. If you are the creator of a blog or know of one that you think other creative minds would like to know about, please send a letter of interest to the Managing Editor, at artfulblogging@stampington.com.Deadline for submissions to be received: March 15th.

Click here to download our guide for submitting photographs. It will also show you how to convert images to the correct size and resolution for this publication.

Handcrafted Projects for Christmas, Halloween & Other Holidays
For most art and crafting enthusiasts, holidays are the best reasons to create handcrafted projects … either to keep and treasure in the home, or to give and share with friends and loved ones. But with so many holidays that seem to come around more quickly with the passing of each year, even the most creative minds need project ideas. Christmas cards, gift wrap papers, wreaths, advent calendars, Halloween trick-or-treat pails, papier mâché Valentine hearts, glittery paper hats for the New Year, patriotic paper fans for Independence Day, and Thanksgiving table decorations are just some project ideas that you might consider.

~Artwork by Rachel Mcafee

Somerset Holidays and Celebrations is sure to become a holiday tradition in many homes, where ideas for creative celebrations abound. Please submit your most festive projects for the following categories to be considered for this beautiful 144-page publication.

~Artwork by Shirley Hudson

Looking In
This section is all eye candy, featuring pictures from artfully arranged homes. We hope that these vignettes inspire you to organize or style your space in a creative way. Many thanks to the artists and photographers on these pages for inviting us to come in and make ourselves at home.

~Artwork by Kris Vavra

Furniture Transformations
This section features upholstered and redecorated furniture, inspiring you to look twice before tossing out an unwanted or worn item, or even to try your hand at creating the furniture you’ve always wanted to have.

~Artwork by Bre Bertolini

Email images of your submissions to the editor at somersethomeo@stampington.com. Please use Somerset Home Submission: Calls and Challenges or Department Name as the subject line.

Deadline: March 15th.

If selected, we may ask you to send in your artwork or to provide us with hi-res versions of your photographs.

Be a part of the fastest growing movement in the crafting word: the softie movement. Published twice a year, Stuffed is 144 pages of fun and whimsical soft dolls, accompanied by technique articles and a large gallery section. Felt monsters, crocheted food, fabric pirates…we’re looking for softies that show the heart and soul of plush art while demonstrating artistic touches.

~Artwork by Amnon Lipkin

If selected, we may ask you to send in your artwork or to provide us with hi-res versions of your photographs.

Still Have Questions About How to Submit?

If you have any general questions regarding submissions, please feel free to contact Art Management at submissions@stampington.com. If you want to see a full list of our current submission requests, please visit our Calls and Challenges page.

We hope to hear from you soon! Good luck, and keep creating.

Need More Inspiration?

Don’t forget to use coupon code BDI0115 to get $5 off the premiere issue of Digital Inspiration. This special book-azine showcases the best of the best in photo manipulations and digitally altered artwork, as collected from past issues of Somerset Digital Studio. Apart from being a wonderful conversation starter, this stunning publication is great source of inspiration!